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HAWAII  AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION 


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J.  ]VL  WESTGATE,  Agronomist  in  Charge, 

Honolulu,  Hawaii. 


BULLETIN  No.  46. 

Under  the  Supervision  of  the  STATES  RELATIONS  SERVICE, 
Office  of  Experiment  Stations,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 


THE  PIGEON  PEA  (CAJANUS  INDICUS): 

ITS  CULTURE  AND  UTILIZATION 

IN  HAWAII. 


BY 


F.  G.  KRAUSS,  Superintendent  of  Extension  Division. 


Issued  December  16,  1921 


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1921. 


. 


HAWAII  AGRICULTURAL  EXPERIMENT  STATION 

J.  M.  WESTGATE,  Agronomist  in  Charge, 

Honolulu.  Hawaii. 


BULLETIN  No.  46. 


Under  the  Supervision  of  the  STATES  RELATIONS  SERVICE, 
Office  of  Experiment  Stations,  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 


THE  PIGEON  PEA  (CAJANUS  INDICUS): 

ITS  CULTURE  AND  UTILIZATION 

IN  HAWAII. 


BY 


F.  G.  KRAUSS,  Superintendent  of  Extension  Division. 


Issued  December  16,  1921 


s^fr^mfu 


WASHINGTON : 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE. 

1921. 


HAWAII   AGRICULTURAL   EXPERIMENT    STATION,   HONOLULU. 

[Under  the  supervision  of  A.  C.  True,  Director,  States  Relations  Service,  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture.] 

E.  W.  Allen,   Chief,   Office  of  Experiment   Stations. 
Walter  H.  Evans,  Chief,  Division  of  Insular  Stations, 

Office  of  Experiment  Stations. 

STATION  STAFF. 

J.  M.  Westgate,  Agronomist  in  Charge. 

F.  G.  Krauss,  Superintendent  of  Extension  Division. 
H.  L.  Chung,  Agronomist. 

W.  T.  Pope,  Horticulturist. 
J.  C.  Ripperton,  Assistant  Chemist. 
R.  A.  Goff,  In   Charge  of  Glenwood  Substation  and 
Extension  Agent  for  Island  of  Hawaii. 


THE  PIGEON  PEA:  ITS  CULTURE  AND  UTILIZA- 
TION IN  HAWAII.1 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Introduction ; 3 

Botany  and  agricultural  history 5 

Climatic   and    soil    adaptations 7 

Planting 8 

The  hay  crop 9 

Harvesting 9 

Curing 10 

The  seed  crop 13 

Harvesting 13 

Thrashing 14 


Page. 

Pigeon  pea  as  feed 15 

Feeding  value 15 

Milling  and  mixing  feeds 16 

Suggested   feeding   rations 18 

Plowing  under  of  pigeon  peas 20 

Pigeon   peas   as  a   cover  and   green- 
manuring  crop,  and  for  rotation—  20 
Pests  and  diseases 22 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  pigeon  pea,  also  commonly  called  the  Porto  Rican  pea,  was 
introduced  into  Hawaii  from  Porto  Rico.  It  has  been  grown  in  a 
limited  way  in  Hawaii  for  at  least  20  years  and  is  now  commonly 
cultivated  as  a  back-yard  shrub.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  to 
have  been  thought  of  as  a  field  crop  until  comparatively  recently. 
Between  the  years  1906  and  1908,  the  Hawaii  Experiment  Station 
grew  several  varieties  or  types  of  pigeon  peas  as  an  experiment ;  and 
in  a  comparative  test  with  leguminous  field  crops  that  had  been  given 
extensive  trials  the  pigeon  pea  was  found  to  attract  especial  atten- 
tion on  account  of  its  vigorous  growth  and  heavy  seeding  qualities. 
In  the  experiment  just  referred  to,  three  test  rows,  each  100  feet  long, 
were  spaced  10  feet  apart.  The  middle  row  was  planted  to  the 
variety  known  at  the  station  as  No.  218,  which  yielded  102  pounds 
of  prime  seed  within  eight  months  from  the  time  of  planting.  This 
was  at  the  rate  of  1.02  pounds  per  running  foot  of  row ;  and  if  cal- 
culated to  acre  yields,  the  product  would  amount  to  nearly  2  J  tons 
of  shelled  seed  per  acre.  The  plant,  being  a  perennial,  yielded  two 
subsequent  crops  which  were  harvested  within  the  succeeding  12 
months,  the  combined  yield  of  seed  approximating  that  of  the  initial 
crop.  The  seed  of  this  variety  (No.  218)  was  well  distributed  and 
undoubtedly  is  now  to  be  found  growing  in  widely  scattered  sec- 
tions of  the  islands. 


xSee  also  Hawaii  Sta,  Bui.  23  (1911),  pp.  21-23. 


3 


HAWAII   EXPERIMENT   STATION. 

As  early  as  1910,  reports  from  Fred  S.  Lyman,  of  Pupakea,  Oahu, 
and  others  stated  that  the  stems  of  the  pigeon  pea  and  the  accompany- 
ing seed  in  pod,  when  harvested  and  fed  fresh  from  the  plant,  were 
proving  an  excellent  feed  for  work  horses,  mules,  dairy  cows,  and 
poultry ;  and  that  all  kinds  of  stock  browse  freely  upon  the  growing 
plants.  Of  the  pigeon  pea  as  a  green  manuring  and  cover  crop, 
C.  G.  White,  of  Haiku,  Maui,  wrote  in  1910 : 

It  is  the  hardiest  legume  of  all  I  have  tried  at  Haiku.  It  maintains  itself 
for  years,  and  no  insects  have  seriously  bothered  it  so  far.  It  does  not  start 
well  when  planted  in  winter,  but  November  plantings  loiter  along  and  grow 
vigorously  at  the  coming  of  warm  weather.  Its  chief  drawback  is  its  size. 
With  special  care  and  arrangements,  plowing  one-half  acre  a  day,  I  have  turned 
it  under  fairly  well  when  four  years  old,  using  a  disk  plow  and  four  large 
mules.  *  *  *  In  three  months'  time  the  plants  had  rotted  so  that  it  gave  no 
trouble  in  replowing  and  fitting  the  land  in  good  shape.  *  *  *  The  best  corn 
I  ever  grew  followed  these  peas. 

James  Munro  makes  the  following  statements  regarding  the  use  of 
pigeon  peas : 

Pigeon  peas  have  been  used  on  this  ranch  (Molokai)  since  1910,  first  as  a 
windbreak  and  later  as  a  soil  renovator  in  worn-out  corn  fields.  The  crop  was 
found  to  be  a  good  soil  renovator,  but  expensive  when  bringing  the  land  back 
into  cultivation  on  account  of  the  rank  growth,  which  left  very  heavy  stumps 
to  be  disposed  of.  The  pigeon  peas  are  planted  at  800-foot  elevations  in  rows 
4  feet  apart  in  clean  cultivation,  either  in  the  fall  or  spring,  giving  preference 
to  the  fall  because  there  is  more  time  available  then.  Rainfall  averages  about 
32  inches  yearly  and  the  fields  are  favored  with  the  trade  rains  in  March  and 
April,  during  which  months  there  is  an  average  rainfall  of  5  to  6  inches.  Under 
these  conditions  pigeon  peas  make  a  rank  growth,  and  so  long  as  the  soil  does 
not  get  too  hard  they  will  last  through  a  dry  summer  with  stocking  after  the 
grasses  have  failed. 

The  fenced,  60-acre  lot  used  for  the  soil  renovation  test  was  used  at  the  same 
time  for  fattening  steers  for  market.  Not  more  than  60  head  were  allowed  on 
the  lot  at  one  time.  These  got  very  fat  and  the  field  could  have  carried  more. 
Pigeon  peas  should  not  be  pastured  until  the  plants  have  flowered  and  the  pods 
are  beginning  to  set,  because  it  is  on  the  pea  pods  that  the  cattle  graze.  They 
will  also  eat  the  leaves  when  hard  up  for  feed,  but  in  this  case  they  will  break 
down  and  destroy  the  plant. 

The  freckled  variety  has  proved  an  excellent  chicken  feed.  The  chickens  were 
turned  out  in  the  peas,  and  the  bushes  beaten  in  dry  weather  to  thrash  out  the 
peas.    Two  varieties  have  been  grown  together  here  without  seeming  to  cross. 

The  great  thing  about  pigeon  peas  is,  like  corn,  to  get  it  through  its  early 
stages  without  its  being  destroyed  by  caterpillars. 

Although  the  Hawaii  Experiment  Station  had  advocated  the  pos- 
sible value  of  the  pigeon  pea  as  a  field  crop  as  early  as  1907,  and 
had  been  instrumental  in  getting  under  Way  the  field  plantings  above 
noted,  little  or  no  progress  was  made  in  Hawaii  with  it  as  a  field 
crop,  so  far  as  can  be  determined,  until  the  establishment  of  the 
Haiku  demonstration  and  experiment  farm  on  the  island  of  Maui 
in  1914.     Land  on  that  island  that  failed  to  produce  25  bushels  of 


THE  PIGEON  PEA!   CULTURE   IN   HAWAII.  5 

corn  per  acre  after  receiving  the  best  cultivation  produced  a  very 
fine  crop  when  it  was  planted  to  pigeon  peas  under  the  same  condi- 
tions. In  the  succeeding  three  years  20  acres  was  planted  to  pigeon 
peas,  which  were  regularly  harvested  as  a  seed  and  forage  crop. 
Five  tons  of  seed  has  been  distributed  for  planting,  100  tons  of  hay 
cured,  and  half  the  above-mentioned  amounts  of  hay  and  grain  have 
been  milled  and  fed,  either  alone  or  in  combination  with  other  feeds 
to  all  kinds  of  live  stock.  In  1918  and  1919  fully  500  acres  was 
planted  to  the  crop  on  the  island  of  Maui,  and  by  the  end  of  1920 
more  than  1,000  acres  was  growing  in  the  Haiku  district  alone. 
During  1919  one  Haiku  ranch  harvested  more  than  10  tons  daily 
from  350  acres  planted  to  this  crop.  This  was  cured  and  milled  in 
an  up-to-date  milling  plant,  and  formed  the  basic  constituent  of 
hundreds  of  tons  of  mixed  feed  turned  out  during  the  past  year. 
The  managers  of  a  Lanai  ranch  have  become  so  favorably  impressed 
with  the  possibilities  of  this  new  crop  that  they  have  under  way 
plantings  covering  an  aggregate  of  2,000  acres. 

A  Molokai  ranch  has  marketed  some  of  its  best  conditioned  steers 
from  pigeon-pea  pasture.  At  the  Haiku  demonstration  and  experi- 
ment farm,  work  mules,  horses,  milk  cows,  swine,  and  poultry  were 
fed  pigeon  peas  as  a  large  part  of  their  ration  covering  a  period  of 
four  years.  Corn,  in  100-bushel  crops,  and  pineapples,  in  20-ton 
crops,  were  grown  on  lands  that  were  renovated  by  the  culture  and 
turning  under  of  pigeon  peas  after  the  peas  had  served  well  their 
purpose  first  as  a  harvested  crop,  then  as  a  pasture,  and  finally  as 
green  manure. 

BOTANY  AND  AGRICULTURAL  HISTORY. 

The  pigeon  pea  {Cajanus  indicus  or  C.  cajan)  is  an  erect 
leguminous  shrub,  attaining  a  height  of  3  to  10  feet  under  ordinary 
culture  in  Hawaii.  The  leaves  are  3- foliate,  the  racemed  flowers 
either  yellow,  or  red  and  yellow,  and  the  ovary  is  subsessile  and  has 
few  ovules.  The  pods  vary  greatly  in  size  and  shape  in  the  different 
varieties,  but  are  usually  3,  4,  or  5  seeded  and  constricted  between 
the  seeds  by  oblique  linear  depressions.  When  not  crowded,  the 
plants  branch  freely  well  to  the  base.  The  stems  are  slender  but 
heavily  foliaged  in  most  varieties,  and  especially  so  after  the  plant 
has  been  cut  back  in  the  first  harvest. 

The  generic  name  Cajanus  is  derived  from  the  Malayan  name, 
Katjang,  and  the  only  species  is  C.  indicus  or  C .  cajan.  Some  doubt 
exists  as  to  whether  this  species  was  originally  a  native  of  India  or 
of  tropical  Africa.  It  is  extensively  cultivated  throughout  India, 
even  up  to  an  altitude  of  6,000  feet.  In  Porto  Rico,  whence  the  first 
seeds  planted  in  Hawaii  came  some  20  or  more  years  ago,  two  prin- 


BULLETIN  46,   HAWAII  EXPERIMENT   STATION. 


cipal  varieties  are  recognized.  The  variety  now  known  at  the 
station  as  No.  218  (probably  C.  indicus  fiavus)  produces  rather  small 
seed  similar  to  that  of  the  Iron  or  Clay  cowpea  (PL  I,  fig.  1).  It  is 
a  heavy  seed  bearer  and  very  much  liked  by  Porto  Ricans  as  food, 
either  as  green  peas,  or  as  dry-shelled  peas,  which  are  prepared  very 
much  the  same  as  cowpeas  are  in  the  Southern  States.  Station 
variety  No.  219  (probably  C.  indicus  bicolor)  has  yellow  flowers 
tinged  with  red  (PL  I,  fig.  2).  These  are  in  direct  contrast  to  the 
pure  yellow  flowers  borne  by  No.  218,  and  the  pods  are  streaked 
or  blotched  with  red  on  a  green  background.  The  seeds  are  light 
gray  and  faintly  speckled.  They  are  also  somewhat  larger  and  more 
spherical  than  the  solid  red  seeds  of  variety  No.  218.  The  main 
economic  agricultural  distinction,  however,  as  now  recognized,  is 
that  No.  218  is  early  maturing  and  very  heavy  seeding,  yielding  a 
heavy  crop  of  seeds  within  seven  or  eight  months  from  the  time  of 
planting,  but  attaining  in  the  second  year  a  height  of  only  3  or  7 
feet.  On  the  other  hand,  variety  No.  219  does  not  begin  to  yield  its 
maximum  crop  of  seed  until  the  second  year,  but  since  it  is  heavily 
foliaged  and  attains  a  height  of  from  6  to  10  feet,  it  is  valuable  as  a 
temporary  windbreak  as  well  as  for  forage  and  green  manuring. 

Special  reference  should  be  made  to  the  root  system  of  the  pigeon 
pea.  The  plant  is  furnished  with  a  long  taproot  and  many  branch- 
ing lateral  roots  that  are  abundantly  supplied  with  large  clusters 
of  nitrogen-storing  nodules.  These  nodules  in  some  instances  ex- 
ceed the  number  found  on  any  other  of  the  many  legumes  studied  at 
this  station.  No  case  has  come  under  observation  where  the  seed  of 
pigeon  peas  required  artificial  inoculation.  The  root  nodules  seem 
to  be  present  naturally  and  without  exception. 

The  pigeon  pea  shows  considerable  tendency  to  cross-pollinate 
when  several  varieties  are  grown  together.  This  results  in  the  forma- 
tion of  numerous  crosses  showing  a  greater  or  less  variation  in  char- 
acters. Comparatively  few  of  these  appear  to  be  constant,  although 
several  superior  types  have  been  established  and  are  new  being 
propagated  with  a  view  to  wider  distribution.  While  only  slightly 
variable  within  the  old-established  varieties,  such  as  that  known  as 
No.  218,  careful  selective  breeding  has  established  a  superior  and  very 
uniform  strain  of  an  early  maturing,  heavy  seeding  type  which  the 
station  has  designated  "New  Era."  A  field  of  5  acres  of  this 
strain  is  being  grown  for  seed. 

Alonzo  Gartley,  of  Honolulu,  called  attention  to  four  well-estab- 
lished varieties  of  the  pigeon  pea,  which  he  designates  as  (1)  the 
Oahu  type  (apparently  station  variety  No.  218  before  its  pres- 
ent improvement)  ;  the  Maui  type  (apparently  station  variety  No. 
219)  ;  (3)  the  Hawaii  type  (apparently  the  small-seeded  India  va- 
riety which  was  first  introduced  by  the  experiment  station  of  the 


THE  PIGEON   PEA:   CULTURE   IN   HAWAII.  7 

Sugar  Planters'  Association,  and  the  seed  given  some  years  ago 
to  the  writer  by  H.  L.  Lyon;  and  (4)  the  Kauai  type  (which  is 
similar  to  the  Maui  type,  excepting  that  the  seed  is  larger  and  lighter 
colored  than  the  Maui  type). 

CLIMATIC  AND  SOIL  ADAPTATIONS. 

The  pigeon  pea  is  primarily  a  dry-land  crop,  especially  when  it  is 
considered  mainly  for  seed  production.  The  heaviest  yields  of  seed 
have  been  produced  at  Haiku  during  warm,  dr}^  seasons.  Where  the 
soil  is  of  reasonable  depth  and  fertility  and  in  fair  tilth  the  plants 
thrive  remarkably  well  even  during  protracted  droughts  such  as  pre- 
vailed in  the  Haiku  district  during  1918  and  1919.  A  fine  crop 
planted  March  15,  1919,  and  photographed  October  15,  1919,  devel- 
oped to  perfect  maturity  on  a  total  of  less  than  20  inches  of  rainfall. 
(PL  II,  fig.  1.)  Only  one  cultivation  was  given  the  crop  after  the 
intercrop  of  corn  was  harvested  in  'July.  (PL  II,  fig.  2.)  No  other 
crop  is  known  that  would  prove  so  successful  under  like  conditions. 
Doubtless  many  people  will  recall  having  seen  neglected  pigeon  pea 
plants  thriving  as  well  in  dry,  stony  places  as  though  they  were  being 
cultivated  in  a  garden.  Although  suited  to  dry  conditions,  the  pigeon 
pea  adapts  itself  to  many  and  varied  conditions.  Adequate  moisture 
merely  adds  to  the  luxuriance  of  its  growth  and  if,  in  addition,  the 
soil  is  rich,  the  seeding  period  will  merely  be  delayed  to  a  time  when 
the  plant  is  unable  to  bear  more  foliage.  Excessively  wet  districts, 
for  example,  Glenwood,  on  the  island  of  Hawaii,  and  Nahiku,  on  the 
island  of  Maui,  are,  however,  not  adapted  to  the  profitable  culture  of 
the  pigeon  pea,  nor  is  the  crop  adapted  to  irrigation  farming.  As 
stated  before,  its  great  value  rests  upon  its  ability  to  produce  abun- 
dantly and  most  economically  a  nutritious  herbage  under  semiarid 
conditions.  Such  conditions  at  best  would  be  adverse  to  most  other 
forage  crops. 

Its  range  of  adaptability  to  the  seasons,  to  varying  altitudes,  and 
to  an  almost  unlimited  variety  of  soil  conditions  is  one  of  the  striking 
characteristics  of  this  unique  field  crop.  At  the  Haiku  demonstration 
and  experiment  farm  spring  and  fall  plantings  have  been  equally 
successful.  When  planted  in  February,  March,  or  April  the  plant 
begins  to  bear  its  first  crop  of  seeds  from  August  to  October  and  con- 
tinues to  flower  and  fruit  well  into  midwinter,  provided  the  pods  are 
kept  picked.  No  treatment  other  than  that  of  keeping  the  maturing 
pods  continually  picked  will  cause  heavy  fruiting  and  large  yields 
of  seed.  Spring  is  considered  the  most  favorable  time  for  planting 
pigeon  peas,  because  the  plants  then  start  growth  rapidly  and  branch 
rather  freely.  Furthermore,  at  this  season  of  the  year  a  wide  selec- 
tion of  crops  is  available  for  intercropping  with  the  pigeon  pea. 


8  BULLETIN  46,    HAWAII  EXPERIMENT   STATION. 

Planting  in  August,  September,  or  October,  to  follow  the  corn  or 
other  summer  harvests,  is  practicable  when  the  ground  contains  suffi- 
cient moisture  to  germinate  the  seed.  However,  no  intercropping 
should  be  attempted  with  fall  planting  of  the  pigeon  pea.  If  the 
fall  planting  is  followed  by  either  an  excessively  dry  or  wet  fall  and 
winter,  the  crop  will,  as  C.  G.  White  has  stated,  "loiter  along"  for 
awhile  and  then  start  off  vigorously  at  the  coming  of  warm  weather. 
Such  plantings  often  produce  the  strongest  legumes.  They  may  be- 
gin to  flower  as  early  as  May  and  yield  seed  abundantly  by  early 
July,  especially  in  the  more  protected  lowlands  where  the  soil  is 
light  and  well  drained.  Under  such  conditions  the  fruiting  season 
may  continue  for  a  period  of  six  months,  from  July  to  December. 
The  following  year,  both  from  spring  and  fall  plantings,  two  dis- 
tinct fruiting  seasons,  the  spring  and  summer  crop  and  the  fall  and 
winter  crop,  will  have  established  themselves.  Under  unusual  con- 
ditions the  plants  may  continue  to  flower  and  bear  seed  throughout 
the  year. 

In  its  adaptation  to  a  wide  variety  of  soils,  the  pigeon  pea  is 
equalled  by  few  other  crops.  A  deep,  well-drained,  medium  rich 
loam  is  conducive  to  the  best  development  and  longest  life  of  this 
crop;  however,  it  thrives  in  light,  loose,  sandy  soils  having  scant 
moisture  from  the  gravelly  and  stony  type  to  heavy  clay  loams  of 
close  texture  and  considerable  moisture  content,  provided  there  is  no 
standing  water  on  the  ground.  Furthermore,  the  crop  seems  to  be 
tolerant  of  salty  soil  conditions,  plants  having  been  noted  to  thrive 
in  soils  containing  fully  0.0005  gram  of  sodium  chlorid  per  gram  of 
soil.  In  soils  containing  twice  this  amount  of  salt  they  were  dwarfed 
and  failed  to  seed  freely,  while  a  content  of  0.005  gram  of  sodium 
chlorid  per  gram  of  soil  seemed  to  be  wholly  destructive  to  growth. 
It  is  thought  that  many  of  the  extensive  barren  sandy  wastes  border- 
ing the  seashore  might  be  reclaimed  and  made  of  great  use  by  plant- 
ing them  to  pigeon  peas.  Seed  stocks  are  being  widely  distributed 
at  present  with  a  view  to  testing  further  the  adaptability  of  the  crop 
to  these  conditions. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  crop  finds  a  natural  habitat  in 
the  lowlands,  but  it  is  by  no  means  confined  to  low  elevations.  It 
is  stated  that  in  the  Himalayas,  the  pigeon  pea  plant  thrives  at  an 
altitude  of  6,000  feet.  In  Hawaii  thriving  plants  have  been  found 
at  an  elevation  of  3,000  feet. 

PLANTING. 

It  is  advisable  to  prepare  the  land  thoroughly  before  planting  it 
to  pigeon  peas.  After  the  crop  is  established,  little  or  no  cultivation 
is  required  to  get  good  results  from  it,  but  the  young  plants  start 
off  slowly  and  make  only  a  spindling  growth  for  the  first  month  or 


Bui.  46,  Hawaii  Agr.  Expt.  Station. 


Plate  I. 


OJQ.  <  -J 

~3  < 

LL 


Bui.  46,  Hawaii  Agr.  Expt.  Station. 


Plate  1 1, 


Fig.  I.- 


-Pigeon  Peas  Interplanted  with  Corn.    The  Corn  was  Removed 
and  Crop  Shown  Below  in  Figure  2  was  Produced. 


Fig.  2.-Pigeon  Peas  Grown  for  Seed.    Yield  I  Ton  of  Seed  per  Acre. 


THE  PIGEON   PEA:    CULTURE   IN   HAWAII.  9 

two.  During  this  period  it  pays  to  run  a  one-horse  cultivator  be- 
tween the  rows  to  keep  down  the  weeds,  and  for  this  reason  the 
rows  should  be  spaced  evenly.  This  can  easily  be  done  if  a  "  marker  " 
is  used.  A  marker  can  be  made  by  spiking  three  2  by  6  inch  runners, 
24  inches  long,  to  the  underside  of  a  2  by  12  inch  plank,  10  feet 
long,  one  runner  being  placed  at  each  end  of  the  plank,  and  one  in 
the  center.  A  light  wagon  tongue  should  then  be  fastened  to  the 
plank  and  a  steady  team  used  to  drag  the  marker.  The  one-horse 
seed  drill  will  have  an  accurate  guide  to  follow.  A  skillful  driver 
should  mark  off  20  acres  a  day.  If  the  planting  is  to  be  done  in 
rough  ground  where  plowing  and  tillage  are  impracticable,  holes 
can  be  dug  approximately  5  by  5  feet  apart  and  several  seeds  dropped 
in  each  hill. 

When  pigeon  peas  are  grown  for  seed  purposes  it  is  recommended 
that  the  rows  be  spaced  4  or  5  feet  apart,  depending  upon  the  fer- 
tility and  moisture  conditions  of  the  soil.  Naturally  the  more  favor- 
able the  growing  conditions  are,  the  larger  the  plants  will  be  and  the 
more  space  they  will  require  for  best  development.  At  Haiku,  the 
seed  is  planted  in  rows  5  feet  apart  and  intercropped  with  some  quick- 
maturing  crop  such  as  corn,  beans,  potatoes,  peanuts,  and  the  like. 
By  the  time  these  are  harvested,  the  pigeon  peas  begin  to  occupy  the 
intervening  space.  If  the  crop  is  wanted  for  green  manuring,  it 
is  advisable  to  space  the  rows  only  half  as  wide  as  when  the  crop 
is  to  be  grown  primarily  for  seed;  that  is,  they  should  be  24  to  30 
inches  apart. 

The  best  and  most  economical  method  for  planting  the  seed  found 
so  far  is  the  use  of  a  one-horse  seed  drill  adjusted  to  drop  the  seed 
approximately  6  inches  apart.  This  is  considered  the  most  favor- 
able distance  in  the  row  for  seed  production.  With  this  equipment 
a  skilled  workman  should  readily  plant  from  4  to  5  acres  per  day. 
From  8  to  10  pounds  of  seed  will  plant  an  acre.  The  seed  may  also 
be  broadcasted,  but  such  a  practice  is  not  recommended.  Weeds  are 
likely  to  smother  the  young  seedlings,  and  if  the  plants  are  over- 
crowded, seed  production  will  be  seriously  curtailed.  Furthermore, 
light  seeding  is  essential  to  make  the  scant  available  moisture  ade- 
quate for  even  so  drought  resistant  a  crop  as  the  pigeon  pea. 

THE  HAY  CROP. 

HARVESTING. 

The  best  time  to  harvest  the  pigeon  pea  crop  for  hay  is  when  a 
large  percentage  of  the  pods  is  mature  because  a  large  part  of  the 
nutritive  value  of  the  plant  is  contained  in  the  seed.  So  heavily  do 
some  strains  seed  that  fully  one- fourth  of  the  forage  is  made  up  of 
grain.  One  great  advantage  of  the  pigeon  pea  over  many  other 
52573°— 21 2 


10  BULLETIN  46,   HAWAII  EXPERIMENT   STATION. 

leguminous  seed  crops  is  that  its  pods  do  not  shatter  their  seeds  even 
when  they  are  roughly  handled. 

Since  the  pigeon  pea  produces  a  stiff,  woody  stem,  it  has  been 
found  desirable  to  harvest  not  more  than  the  upper  third,  or.  at 
most,  the  upper  half  of  the  plant,  unless  the  plants  are  very  spindling 
and  sparse,  as  they  sometimes  are  on  poor  thin  soils  during  a  dry 
season.  It  has  been  the  practice  at  Haiku  to  cut  back  about  one- 
third  in  the  first  harvest  and  a  third  to  a  fourth  in  subsequent  har- 
vests, depending  upon  the  growth  made  by  the  plants.  The  stems 
in  such  cases  do  not  exceed  the  thickness  of  a  lead  pencil,  and  they 
bear  practically  all  the  pods  on  the  plant  at  that  time. 

The  greatest  problem  thus  far  encountered  is  in  the  mechanical 
part  of  the  harvesting.  No  ordinary  mowing  or  harvesting  machine 
now  on  the  market  will  handle  the  crop  as  it  is  being  grown  at  pres- 
ent. A  short-knifed  wheat  header,  such  as  is  used  in  harvesting 
wheat  and  barley  in  California,  if  especially  strongly  built,  has  been 
suggested  as  a  practicable  contrivance.  The  Haiku  ranch,  which 
has  several  hundred  acres  in  pigeon  peas,  has  had  underway,  with 
some  likelihood  of  success,  the  modification  of  a  modern  corn  har- 
vester. Doubtless,  when  the  acreage  becomes  large  enough,  imple- 
ment manufacturers  will  become  sufficiently  interested  to  undertake 
the  manufacture  of  a  suitable  implement.  In  the  meantime,  the  most 
practical  way  thus  far  devised  is  to  cut  the  stems  by  the  use  of  the 
short,  strong-bladed,  Chinese  grass  hook,  or  sickle.  The  workman 
grasps  a  cluster  of  stems  with  his  left  hand  and  readily  cuts  through 
the  stiff  stems  with  a  strong,  swift,  drawing  motion  of  the  sickle 
blade.  The  handful  of  fodder  is  then  laid  upon  the  cut  surface  of 
the  plant  from  which  it  was  just  harvested.  The  plants  thus  serve 
as  an  admirable  support  for  wilting  of  the  fodder  preparatory  to 
loading  it  on  the  curing  trucks  or  stacking  or  for  holding  the  fresh- 
cut  material  for  immediate  gathering  by  the  crew  following  the 
cutters.    These  temporary  supports  are  usually  about  waist  high. 

Loading  the  crop  on  the  curing  truck,  or  on  wagons  for  haulage, 
presents  another  difficulty,  and  as  now  done  by  hand,  is  slow  and 
uneconomical.  The  present  methods  of  loading  the  green  pigeon 
pea  stems  are  shown  in  Plate  III,  figure  1.  Bundles  making  an 
armful  for  a  man  weigh  about  40  pounds.  They  can  not  be  handled 
with  a  pitchfork  because  the  mass  does  not  well  hold  together.  The 
California  grain-header  idea  might  help  to  solve  this  problem,  since 
the  crop  as  harvested  would  be  elevated  directly  into  the  accompany- 
ing wagons. 

te  te  CURING. 

The  most  practical  and  efficient  way  to  cure  the  crop  is  by  means  of 
portable  curing  trucks  and  stationary  raised  platforms,  the  latter 
built  at  convenient  places  in  the  field.     Under  this  system,  the  mate- 


THE   PIGEON   PEA.*   CULTURE  IN   HAWAII.  11 

rial  to  be  cured  is  supported  a  foot  or  more  above  the  ground.  The 
floor  is  slatted,  and  all  four  sides  are  open  to  free  circulation  of  the 
air  and  wind.  It  is  the  action  of  the  wind  even  more  than  that  of 
the  sun  which  makes  for  a  well-cured  slack  of  hay.  At  Haiku  it 
is  the  practice  to  load  as  soon  after  the  forage  is  cut  as  is  practicable, 
often  within  an  hour  after  harvesting.  However,  if  no  wind  is  blow- 
ing, which  is  seldom  the  case  at  Haiku,  and  the  fodder  is  exception- 
ally lush  or  succulent,  it  may  be  left  lying  on  the  plants  as  above 
described  for  a  half  day  or  so.  If  the  sun  is  bright,  fully  half  of 
the  free  moisture  in  the  forage  will  have  evaporated  in  this  time. 
Ordinarily,  however,  the  crop  is  loaded  within  an  hour  or  two  of 
harvest,  and  where  sound  judgment  is  exercised  no  spoilage  results 
from  the  practice. 

When  excessive  rains  occur  during  the  7  to  10  days  required  for 
curing  under  favorable  conditions,  tarpaulins  are  thrown  over  the 
top  of  the  stack,  but  not  over  the  sides,  because  as  free  a  circulation 
of  air  as  is  possible  is  needed  to  prevent  overheating  and  consequent 
spoilage.  Some  drawbacks  were  found  to  the  use  of  impervious 
coverings  when  they  were  placed  over  a  freshly  stacked  load  of 
pigeon  peas;  and  it  was  feared  that  spoilage  would  result  if  such 
coverings  were  left  on  too  long.  This  would  undoubtedly  be  the 
case  were  a  protracted  wet  spell  to  occur  while  the  coverings  were  on. 
To  overcome  this  difficulty,  Dr.  W.  D.  Baldwin,  of  Haiku,  suggested 
the  use  of  grass-thatched  coverings  or  roofs,  which,  while  they 
allowed  free  circulation  of  air,  at  the  same  time  provided  perfect  pro- 
tection against  the  heaviest  rains.  Through  Dr.  Baldwin's  interest 
in  advancing  this  work,  it  was  possible  to  construct  the  experimental 
structure  shown  in  Plate  III,  figure  2.  It  was  first  thought  that  the 
thatched  "  blanket "  could  be  used  as  a  tarpaulin,  but  it  was  found 
too  cumbersome  for  this  purpose,  and  it  was  placed  over  a  frame  of 
bamboo  as  a  permanent  structure.  It  was  of  just  the  right  dimen- 
sions to  permit  the  loaded  curing  truck  to  pass  under.  After  having 
been  used  for  a  year  or  more  with  the  utmost  satisfaction,  this  pro- 
tection, unfortunately,  was  wrecked  by  a  severe  windstorm.  Its 
total  initial  cost,  ma  inly  for  labor,  was  about  $40,  and  there  is  no 
doubt  that  it  saved  five  times  that  amount  in  preventing  loss  when 
hay  was  being  cured  in  bad  weather.  This  method  is  recommended 
for  trial  to  all  who  are  interested  in  the  curing  of  any  kind  of  forage 
in  rainy  districts. 

The  Haiku  ranch  is  now  curing  hundreds  of  tons  of  pigeon-pea 
hay  in  large,  open  sheds,  and  from  these  the  cured  hay  is  either 
baled  or  ground.  This  method  i>  apparently  proving  entirely  satis- 
factory. 

II '<nj-r u ring  truck* — Of  the  two  types  of  hay-curing  trucks  in  use 
at  the  Haiku  demonstration  and  experiment  farm,  the  one  illustrated 


12 


BULLETIN    46,    HAWAII   EXPERIMENT    STATION. 


in  Plate  IV,  figure  1,  is  the  simplest,  least  expensive,  and  most  serv- 
iceable. More  complete  description  is  given  elsewhere.2  The  method 
is  adapted  to  all  forage  crops  grown  in  Hawaii  and  is  recommended 
to  farmers  for  trial. 

This  truck  can  be  built  by  any  farm  blacksmith  in  two  or  three 
days  at  a  total  cost  not  exceeding  $30.  The  bed  of  the  illustrated 
truck  is  12  feet  long  and  7  feet  wide,  and  holds  from  three-fourths 
to  one  and  a  quarter  tons  of  cured  pigeon  pea  hay,  depending  upon 
the  skill  of  the  loaders.  The  truck  body  is  supported  by  two  20-inch 
iron  wheels,  which  have  4-inch  tires  and  run  on  an  axle  placed  about 
4  feet  from  the  rear  end  of  the  V-shaped  frame  shown  as  A.  A  2-inch 
reinforced  pipe  makes  an  excellent  axle.     When  the  loaded  truck 


B 


7&zzz 


=iP 


Fig.  1. 


-Hay-curing  truck.     Main  frame  of  truck  (A),  with  rack  indicated  by  dotted  lines, 
and  side  view  (B)   showing  trigger  and  position  of  wheels. 


is  at  rest,  as  when  left  in  the  field  for  the  hay  to  cure,  or  when  it  is 
being  loaded,  or  baled  from,  the  front  end  is  supported  at  the  point 
of  the  V  by  a  prop  to  keep  the  truck  level.  This  prop  is  hinged  so 
that  it  swings  easily  backward  when  the  truck  is  being  hauled. 
The  standards  at  each  end  run  to  a  point  at  the  top,  where  a  notch 
is  cut  to  receive  a  2  by  4  inch  ridgepole  that  supports  the  canvas 
when  used  as  a  protection  from  rain.  The  floor  of  the  truck  is 
made  up  of  seven  2  by  4  inch  scantlings,  12  feet  long  and  evenly 
spaced  to  allow  the  air  to  circulate  freely  from  the  bottom.  A 
coupling  device  is  fastened  to  each  end  of  the  truck.  The  front 
running  gear  of  a  low-wheeled  wagon,  furnished  with  a  pole  and 
doubletrees  for  two  horses,  is  coupled  to  the  front  of  the  truck  and 


aU.  S.  Dept.  Agr.,  Farmers'  Bui.  956  (1918). 


Bui  45.  Hawaii  Agr.  Expt.  Station 


Plate  1 1 1 


Fig.  I. -Portable  Trucks  Used  in  Harvesting  Pigeon  Peas. 


Fig.  2.— Grass  Thatched  Shed   for   Curing    Pigeon   Pea   Hay.    Protects 
from  Rain  but  Admits  Free  Circulation  of  Air. 


Bui.  46,  Hawaii  Agr.  Expt.  Station. 


Plate  IV. 


Fig.  I.— Portable  Haycuring  Truck.  Capacity  4  to  5  Tons  Green  Pigeon 
Pea  Forage.  Cures  in  7  to  10  Days.  Tarpaulin  used  as  Cover  in  Rainy 
Weather. 


Fig.  2.— Permanent  Curing  Shed  8  by  16  Feet.  Built  of  Bamboo  Poles 
with  Elevated  Platform.  Capacity  about  2  Tons  Cured  Product. 
Cost  about  $5. 


THE  PIGEON  PEA:   CULTURE  IN   HAWAII.  13 

another,  or  several  additional  trucks,  may  be  coupled  on  behind  and 
thus  hauled  from  the  field. 

Permanent  curing  'platforms. — In  addition  to  the  portable  truck 
described  above,  several  permanent  curing  platforms  have  been 
erected  at  convenient  locations  in  the  field  (PL  IV,  fig.  2).  These 
may  be  constructed  to  any  length  desired,  but  experience  has  shown 
that  the  width  should  not  exceed  7  or  8  feet,  since  a  mass  of  green 
forage  of  not  more  than  this  width  will  cure  with  little  danger  of 
spoiling,  especially  if  the  longest  axis  is  set  at  right  angles  to  the 
prevailing  wind.  The  principal  advantage  in  these  permanent  cur- 
ing platforms  is  their  low  initial  cost.  Strong  bamboo  poles,  or 
eucalyptus  saplings,  if  available,  make  admirable  platforms  at  a 
very  low  cost. 

THE  SEED  CROP. 

HARVESTING. 

The  pigeon  pea  may  be  harvested  for  seed  in  two  ways:  Either 
the  pods  may  be  hand-picked  from  the  growing  plants  and  then 
thrashed,  or  the  pocl-bearing  stems  may  be  harvested  in  the  same 
way  that  they  are  harvested  for  hay.  In  the  latter  case,  the  forage 
passing  through  the  thrasher  will  become  shredded  to  such  an 
extent  that  it  will  be  more  palatable.  Of  course,  such  shredded 
material  will  be  devoid  of  the  nutritious  grain,  and  should  there- 
fore be  classed  as  straw  rather  than  hay.  During  the  past  two  years 
it  has  been  the  practice  at  Haiku  to  pick  b}T  hand  all  seed  intended 
for  planting.  This,  while  it  may  be  slightly  more  expensive  than 
the  other  method,  insures  better  developed  seed  and  considerably 
enhances  the  total  yields  of  seed,  at  least  doubling  the  production  in 
most  cases.  By  this  method  the  plants  are  picked  over  three  or  four 
times  per  crop,  the  intervals  between  picking  being  from  two  to  four 
weeks. 

All  hand-picking  of  pods  is  done  on  contract,  originally  at  a  cost 
of  75  cents  per  100  pounds  of  pods,3  but  during  the  past  year  the 
price  was  raised  to  $1.50  per  100  pounds.  The  work  is  well  suited  to 
women  and  children,  and  an  active  adult  may  pick  100  pounds  or 
more  of  pods  in  eight  hours.  The  pods  are  picked  and  dropped  into 
common  grain  bags.  No  heavy  lifting  is  required  for  this  work 
because  a  well-filled  barley  bag  weighs  only  25  pounds.  Groups  of 
four  and  five  persons  doing  this  work  have  earned  $5  a  day  without 
undue  effort. 

The  tenacity  with  which  the  plants  hold  the  pods  and  the  pods 
their  seed  is  remarkable.    At  the  Haiku  substation  observations  have 

3  Theoretically,  prime  pods  yield  approximately  60  per  cent  of  their  weight  in  seed.  In 
thrashing  about  50  per  cent  of  total  weight  of  pods  is  recovered. 


14  BULLETIN  46,   HAWAII  EXPERIMENT   STATION. 

shown  mature  pods  to  adhere  to  the  plant  for  fully  60  days  without 
shattering  any  seed.  Continued  rain  for  a  considerable  period  is 
required  to  cause  the  seed  to  mold  within  the  pod.  This  is  explained 
by  the  fact  that  the  pods  are  borne  at  the  extremities  of  the  upright 
branches,  where  they  are  enabled  to  dry  off  rapidly.  The  pods  them- 
selves are  practically  impervious  to  water. 

THRASHING. 

Thrashing  the  seed  directly  from  the  stems  requires  a  rather 
strongly  constructed  machine.  For  this  purpose  a  double-cylinder 
bean  and  pea  thrasher  has  been  used  with  much  success  at  Haiku. 
This  thrasher  has  a  capacity  of  ^  to  1  ton  of  seed  per  day  when  all 
conditions  are  favorable.  It  is  important  that  the  stems  and  pods 
be  well  cured  and  that  sufficient  power  be  available  before  attempting 
to  thrash.  An  even  smaller  and  simpler  pea  huller  is  used  for  thrash- 
ing simply  the  pods,  and  the  strain  on  all  working  parts  is  very  much 
lighter  than  when  the  seed  is  thrashed  directly  from  the  stems.  The 
pods  alone  thrash  very  readily  when  they  are  thoroughly  dry,  and 
about  1.000  pounds  can  be  thrashed  within  nine  hours  by  a  two- 
horsepower  engine.  Two  men,  or  a  man  and  a  boy,  are  required  to 
do  the  work  most  efficiently. 

Whether  thrashed  from  the  vine  or  the  pod,  the  seeds  should  be 
recleaned  and  graded.  This  is  best  accomplished  by  the  use  of  a  good 
fanning  mill  equipped  with  suitable  sieves  and  riddles.  Unless  the 
seed  has  become  discolored  or  moldy  through  improper  handling, 
no  further  manipulation  will  be  necessary.  However,  it  may  some- 
times be  desirable  to  hand-pick  the  seed  to  make  it  a  merchantable 
product.  This  is  an  expensive  process  and  adds  considerably  to 
the  cost  of  the  seed.  As  high  as  $2  per  100  pounds  has  been  paid 
to  have  the  work  done  properly.  There  are  on  the  market  foot 
treads  and  power  types  of  bean  picking  and  sorting  tables  which 
would  greatly  facilitate  this  work. 

Most  leguminous  seeds,  such  as  cowpeas,  soy  beans,  and  the  culi- 
nary beans,  are  subject  to  weevil  infestation  to  some  extent,  and  the 
pigeon  pea  is  possibly  as  susceptible  as  any  to  these  ravages.  The 
grower  of  this  crop  should  provide  for  it  an  air-tight  storage  cham- 
ber which  can  be  periodically  fumigated.  At  the  Haiku  substation 
a  suitable  compartment  has  been  built  by  constructing  double  walls, 
floor,  and  roof  of  tongue-and-groove  lumber  laid  crosswise  with  a 
layer  of  tarred  felt  between.  The  door  is  beveled  and  made  to  fit 
snugly  against  a  felt  face  and  is  fastened  with  a  strong  refrigerator 
door  clasp.  A  compartment  6  by  6  by  6  feet  is  a  convenient  size 
for  ordinary  requirements,  as  it  holds  about  2  tons  of  bagged  seed. 
The  best  fumigant  to  use  is  carbon  bisulphid,  the  usual  dose  being 
1  to  2  pounds  of  carbon  bisulphid  to  every  1,000  cubic  feet  of  space 


THE   PIGEON   PEA  '.    CULTURE   IX    HAWAII.  15 

to  be  fumigated.  The  compartment  described  above  would  there- 
fore require  about  one-fourth  to  one-half  pound  of  carbon  bisulphid 
per  fumigation.  The  chemical  should  be  placed  in  a  shallow  dish 
and  set  on  top  of  the  pile  of  seed  to  be  fumigated.  As  the  liquid 
volatilizes,  the  vapor  flows  over  the  sides  of  the  container,  and  being 
heavier  than  air  seeks  the  lower  levels.  Fumigation  should  be  con- 
tinued from  24  to  36  hours.  Those  doing  the  fumigating  should  use 
every  precaution  not  to  inhale  the  gas  or  to  bring  a  light  near  the 
vapor,  which  is  very  inflammable. 

In  another  publication 4  mention  has  been  made  of  the  opportunity 
for  enterprising  and  suitably  equipped  farmers  to  grow  standard 
varieties  of  seed,  especially  the  seed  of  the  pigeon  pea,  the  demand 
for  which  now  greatly  exceeds  the  supply.  It  is  desired  to  again 
emphasize  this  fact.  The  very  best  seed  strains  may  deteriorate  rap- 
idly in  careless  or  inexperienced  hands,  but  the  seed  business  is.  or 
should  be,  a  highly  specialized  undertaking.  It  is  likely  that  there 
will  be  an  increasing  demand  for  the  pigeon  pea  once  its  exceptional 
merits  become  well  known. 

PIGEON  PEA  AS  FEED. 

FEEDING  VALUE. 

The  feeding  value  of  a  product  depends  not  alone  upon  its  com- 
position and  digestibility,  but  to  a  very  large  extent  upon  its  pala- 
t ability  to  the  animals  fed.  TThile  there  have  been  received  some 
reports  indicating  reluctance  on  the  part  of  certain  animals  to  con- 
sume pigeon-pea  feed,  the  majority  of  feeders  have  found  that  all 
classes  of  live  stock  readily  learn  to  eat  it  without  the  admixture  of 
other  feeds.  This  seems  to  be  the  case  especially  when  live  stock 
has  access  to  the  growing  crop  as  pasturage.  At  the  Haiku  substa- 
tion no  animal  has  yet  been  found  which  does  not  browse  freely  upon 
the  growing  plant.  At  the  Haiku  ranch,  on  the  island  of  Maui,  the 
dairy  herd  of  50  cows  has  been  maintained  in  excellent  condition  on 
pigeon-pea  "tops  "  constituting  the  upper  third  of  the  plant,  which 
is  the  heavily  podded  portion.  The  tips  and  pods  are  usually  eaten 
first  and  then  the  more  woody  parts,  only  the  thick  stems  remaining 
uneaten.  Work  mules  will  chew  up  even  a  large  part  of  the  woody 
stem.  Poultry  will  jump  as  high  as  3  feet  to  get  at  the  pods,  and 
they  are  very  fond  of  the  blossoms.  Bees  apparently  gather  nectar 
freely  from  the  flowers.  It  has  already  been  remarked  that  the 
Molokai  ranch  has  marketed  some  of  its  best  carcasses  of  beef  direct 
from  pigeon-pea  pasture.  The  Haleakalea  ranch,  on  the  island  of 
Maui,  has  likewise  pastured  a  100-acre  field  of  growing  pigeon  pea, 

*  Hawaii  Sta.  Bui.  23  (1911),  p.  5. 


16 


BULLETIN   46,   HAWAII  EXPERIMENT   STATION. 


maintaining,  with  xevy  satisfactory  results,  250  head  for  a  period  of 
100  days,  the  plants  being  stripped  to  mere  stiff  basal  stems. 

The  greatest  value  of  the  pigeon  pea  as  a  feed  seemingly  lies  in 
its  possibilities  for  replacing  a  large  portion  of  the  imported  grains, 
millstuffs,  and  hay.  These  are  still  brought  into  Hawaii  from  the 
mainland  at  great  expense  and  heavy  consumption  of  carrying  space 
on  the  already  congested  steamship  lines. 

The  accompanying  table  shows  the  average  percentage  composi- 
tion of  pigeon-pea  products. 

A  verage  composition  of  the  pigeon-pea  products. 

[Based  on  all  available  analyses  made  in  Hawaii  to  Feb.  15, 1920.] 


Mois- 
ture. 

Ash. 

Crude 
protein. 

Carbohydrates. 

Nitro- 
gen. 

Character  of  material  analyzed. 

Crude 
fiber. 

Nitro- 
gen-free 
extract. 

Fat. 

Fresh  green  forage  1 

Per  cent. 
70.00 

11.19 
11.45 
12.26 
13.30 

Per  cent. 
2.64 

3.53 

3.85 

3.55 

2.66 
i 

Per  cent. 
7.11 

14.83 

17.65 

22.34 

8.75 
i 

Per  cent. 
10.72 

28.87 

30.73 

6.44 

35.44 

Per  cent. 
7.88 

39.89 
34.53 
53.94 
39.22 

Per  cent. 
1.13 

2.37 
2.82 
3.57 
1.40 

Per  cent. 
1.65 

1.72 
1  49 

Whole  plant  cured  as  hay  and 
ground  into  meal 

Seed  and  pod  meal 

Seed  meal 

1  46 

Thrashed  pod  meal 2 

1  03 

1  Upper  third  of  plant  with  seed  in  pod.  2  By-product  in  seed  production. 

MILLING  AND  MIXING  FEEDS. 

It  is  believed  that  the  milling  of  pigeon  peas  bids  fair  to  do  away 
entirely  with  imported  feeds  in  the  not  distant  future.  The  combined 
stems,  pods,  and  seeds  cured  as  hay  can  be  milled  into  a  meal  similar 
to  the  extensively  used  alfalfa  meal ;  the  ground  pods  and  seeds  can  be 
used  in  the  same  way  as  corn-and-cob  meal ;  or  the  grain  alone,  either 
whole,  cracked,  or  finely  ground,  can  be  mixed  with  other  Hawaiian- 
grown  feeds  and  supplemented  with  refuse  molasses.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  Haiku  substation  has,  during  the  past  four  years,  grown. 
milled,  and  fed  to  half  a  dozen  head  of  live  stock  the  entire  amount 
of  feed  consumed,  fully  25  per  cent  of  which  was  pigeon-pea  product. 
This  feed  has  been  fed  in  comparison  with  the  best  imported  feeds, 
with  a  distinct  advantage,  both  in  cost  and  general  well  being  of  the 
animals,  in  favor  of  the  home-grown  feeds.  A  mill  has  been  estab- 
lished at  Haiku  which  grinds  and  mixes  10  to  25  tons  of  feed  each 
working  day  of  the  year.  From  10  to  20  per  cent  of  this  feed  is  made 
up  of  milled  products  of  the  pigeon  pea. 

In  many  instances  the  grinding  of  feeds  has  been  found  unprofit- 
able, but  this  is  not  always  the  case.  After  careful  observations  it 
would  seem  that  the  extra  cost  of  milling  the  pigeon-pea  plant  should, 
in  the  majority  of  cases,  more  than  pay  for  itself  in  view  of  the  in- 


THE   PIGEON    PEA:    CULTURE    IX    HAWAII.  17 

creasing  cost  of  foods  and  the  consequent  advisability  of  utilizing 
many  of  the  coarser  stuffs  that  were  once  wasted;  and  also  because 
the  most  rapid  and  efficient  gains  arc  frequently  made  by  bringing 
feeds  to  a  uniform  decree  of  fineness,  particularly  where  several 
kinds  are  to  be  mixed  to  balance  the  ration  and  to  give  variety. 
Handling  the  feeds  at  feeding  time  as  well  as  in  storage  is  likewise 
greatly  facilitated  either  by  shredding  or  chaffing  the  roughage  or 
converting  the  more  concentrated  portions  to  a  coarse  or  fine  meal. 
Now  that  refuse  molasses  is  being  used  so  commonly,  it  becomes  prac- 
tically imperative  that  those  feeds  with  which  the  molasses  is  to  be 
mixed  be  reduced  to  as  uniform-sized  particles  as  possible.  The 
above  applies  especially  to  the  pigeon  pea  when  the  stems  and  pods 
are  to  be  utilized.  Unground  peas  are  likely  to  pass  undigested 
through  the  animals. 

The  grinding  of  pigeon-pea  hay  does  not  differ  materially  from 
the  process  used  in  milling  alfalfa  hay  and  other  cured  fodders. 
However,  it  is  desirable  to  cut  the  material  into  short  lengths  before 
it  is  placed  in  the  hammer-throw  mills  for  the  final  reduction  to 
meal.  If  the  recutting  type  of  comminutor  is  used  with  a  small 
screen,  no  preliminary  cutting  and  no  regrinding  will  be  necessary. 
Grinding  in  a  burr  mill  does  not  seem  practical,  and  the  use  of  the 
hammer-throw  mill  after  a  preliminary  cutting  apparently  is  the 
most  efficient  method.  The  cost'  of  milling  by  this  process  is  esti- 
mated at  between  $3  and  $5  per  ton. 

A  word  of  caution  is  in  order  concerning  the  woody  and  fibrous 
nature  of  the  basal  portions  of  the  stalks  of  the  mature  pigeon  pea. 
Rough  or  careless  grinding  leaves  small,  jagged  splinters  in  the  feed, 
and  unless  these  are  guarded  against,  the  coarse,  sharp-pointed  ma- 
terial may  cause  irritation  in  the  digestive  tract  of  the  animals.  It 
would  be  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to  sift  all  feed  through  a 
one-eighth  inch  mesh  sieve  to  remove  this  objectionable  material  be- 
fore the  feeds  are  used,  either  mixed  or  when  fed  alone,  although  the 
station  has  not  heretofore  resorted  to  such  practice. 

Once  the  feeds  are  ground  to  a  uniform  fineness,  it  is  an  easy  mat- 
ter to  mix  thoroughly  the  several  ingredients.  In  the  earlier  experi- 
mental work  at  Haiku,  mixing  was  done  by  hand.  A  tight,  smooth 
floor  12  feet  square  is  convenient  for  mixing  2  or  3  tons  of  ordinary 
feed.  The  finer  and  dustier  meals,  such  as  pigeon  pea,  are  first 
spread  out  in  a  thin  layer.  The  less  dusty  meals  or  "chops"  are  then 
spread  in  subsequent  layers.  The  molasses  is  added  last.  This 
should  not  be  diluted  with  water,  as  fermentation  and  excessive 
beating  with  consequent  spoilage  will  result.  However,  the  molasses, 
if  especially  thick',  may  be  heated  to  the  boiling  point  to  advantage 
and   then  spread  over  the  surface  layer  of  feed  by  the  aid  of  a 


18  BULLETIN   46,    HAWAII   EXPERIMENT    STATION. 

sprinkling  can.  The  mass  may  be  thoroughly  worked  over  first 
with  a  rake  and  next  with  a  scoop  shovel.  By  following  this  method 
a  man  can  mix  2  or  3  tons  of  feed  per  day.  During  the  past  year 
the  Haiku  substation  installed  a  mixing  machine  that  had  been  im- 
provised from  a  continuous  cement  mixer.  It  is  furnished  with  a 
measuring  device  so  arranged  that  the  concentrated  grain  feed  can 
be  definitely  proportioned  to  the  less  concentrated  and  bulkier 
pigeon-pea  hay  meal.  This  machine  mixes  4  or  5  tons  of  feed  in  a 
day  and  seems  to  work  very  satisfactorily. 

Two  milling  plants  have  installed  large,  powerful  mixers  similar 
to  the  type  used  for. mixing  fertilizers.  These  mixers  have  a  capacity 
of  20  to  25  tons  per  day  and  very  thoroughly  mix  the  molasses  with 
the  grain  feeds.  The  entire  cost  of  the  milling  and  mixing  machinery 
installed  at  the  Haiku  substation,  not  including  engine  and  buildings, 
was  about  $500 ;  the  recutting  and  grinding  mill  and  repaired  parts 
costing  $150 ;  the  wagon  elevator  or  bagging  attachment  for  the  mill, 
$50 ;  the  feed  mixer,  about  $100 ;  the  tank,  which  was  connected  with 
the  steam  boiler  for  heating  molasses,  $100 ;  and  incidentals,  $100. 

SUGGESTED  FEEDING  RATIONS  HAVING  A   BASE   OF  PIGEON-PEA  PRODUCTS. 

A  series  of  Hawiian-grown  and  mixed  feeding  rations,  having  as 
a  base  pigeon-pea  forage  in  some  of  its  various  forms,  is  given  below. 
The  simplest  possible  ration  is  given  first.  This  is  followed  by  the 
more  complex  and  specifically  balanced  rations  for  some  definite 
purpose  and  by  explanator}^  notes. 

Ration  No.  1. — This  simple  ration  consists  of  pigeon-pea  tops  cured 
as  hay  or  fresh  forage  in  full  seed  used  as  a  soiling  crop.  It  would  be 
suitable  for  mules,  horses,  dairy  cows,  cattle,  and  sheep  having  a  run 
of  good  pasture  while  on  light  work,  or  for  dairy  cows  that  are  dry. 
However,  in  a  recent  feeding  experiment  with  cows  in  full  milk,  the 
straight  pigeon-pea  hay  ration  produced  a  better  flow  of  milk  than 
fresh  cane  tops  and  sorghums  supplemented  with  a  standard  grain 
ration.  This  might  properly  be  termed  a  "  maintenance "  ration. 
It  would  be  classed  as  a  "  narrow  "  ration  because  the  proportion  of 
crude  protein  is  large  in  comparison  with  that  of  the  carbohydrate 
and  fat.  When  the  reverse  is  true,  as  in  ration  No.  2,  it  is  termed  a 
"  wide  "  ration.  Convenient  designations  for  "  narrow  "  and  "  wide  " 
rations  would  be  the  terms  "  nitrogenous  "  feed  and  "  carbonaceous  " 
feed,  respectively.  The  feeding  would  best  be  done  from  slatted 
overhead  racks,  each  of  which  is  provided  with  a  tight,  shallow 
trough  at  the  base  to  collect  falling  seeds  and  leaves.  In  this  way 
loss  of  this  valuable  portion  of  the  feed  would  be  prevented. 

Ration  No.  2. — This  ration  consists  of  two-thirds  pigeon-pea  hay 
meal  and  one-third  cane  molasses.    It  is  a  very  cheap  feed,  and  costs 


THE   PIGEON    PEA!    CULTURE    EN    HAWAII.  19 

not  more  than  $20  or  $25  per  ton.  This  ration  would  be  classed  as 
a  "  medium  narrow  "  one  for  the  reasons  outlined  above.  It  would 
be  especially  suitable  for  maintaining  cattle  in  the  dry  lot.  or  pref- 
erably on  good  grass  pasture,  but  it  would  be  better  still  if  fed  in 
conjunction  with  fresh  green  alfalfa.  Should  the  ration  be  found 
too  laxative  when  fed  with  alfalfa,  the  alfalfa  should  be  allowed  to 
wilt  for  several  hours  before  it  is  fed. 

Ration  No.  2  and  those  given  below  should  be  fed  for  best  results 
from  wide  shallow  troughs  set  about  24  inches  from  the  ground. 

Ration  No.  3. — This  ration  consists  of  equal  parts  of  pigeon-pea 
hay  meal,  corn-and-cob  meal,  and  cane  molasses.  It  contains  the 
uppermost  limit  that  could  be  recommended  of  both  pigeon  peas  and 
molasses,  except  under  special  conditions.  It  is  a  wider  one  than 
Xo.  2,  and  should  be  fed  in  conjunction  with  fresh  green  alfalfa.  It 
would  then  make  a  first-rate  growing  and  fattening  ration  for  cattle 
at  a  cost  not  exceeding  $30  per  ton. 

Ration  Xo.  4- — This  ration  consists  of  equal  parts  of  pigeon-pea 
hay  meal,  corn-and-cob  meal,  algaroba  meal,  and  cane  molasses.  In 
the  kind  and  variety  of  its  constituents,  ration  Xo.  4  would  be  con- 
sidered an  improvement  on  the  former  rations.  It  would  make  an 
excellent  concentrated  ration  for  work  mules,  horses,  dairy  cows,  and 
growing  cattle,  especially  if  leguminous  roughage,  for  example, 
alfalfa,  cowpeas.  and  velvet-bean  hay  or  green  forage,  were  fed  in 
conjunction  with  it.  Its  feeding  value  about  equals  that  of  imported 
barley.  Its  cost  should  not  exceed  $40  per  ton.  which  would  mean 
a  saving  in  the  cost  of  feed  of  at  least  $20  per  ton. 

Ration  Xo.  5. — This  ration  consists  of  equal  parts  of  pigeon-pea 
hay  meal,  corn-and-cob  meal,  algaroba  meal,  peanut-hay  meal  (that 
is.  the  entire  plant,  with  all  seeds  and  pods  retained),  and  cane 
molasses.  While  somewhat  "  wide."  it  is  especially  rich  in  fat  on 
account  of  its  peanut-meal  constituent.  As  it  stands  it  would  make 
an  excellent  feed  for  fattening  swine  and  cattle.  To  make  it  suitable 
for  growing  swine  and  for  cows  in  full  milk,  5  per  cent  of  the  mo- 
lasses could  be  substituted  with  corn-and-cob  meal  and  5  per  cent 
additional  of  the  molasses  with  an  equal  amoimt  of  peanut-hay  meal. 
This  would  considerably  narrow  the  ration  and  consequently  enhance 
it-  value  for  milk  production  or  for  growing  animals.  For  either 
purpose  and  for  either  class  of  live  stock  it  would  be  advisable  to  sup- 
plement this  concentrated  feed  with  fresh  green  alfalfa  as  roughage. 
Furthermore,  in  the  absence  of  animal  protein  such  as  dried  blood  or 
tankage,  it  is  strongly  urged  that,  when  fed  to  pigs,  this  ration  be 
mixed  into  a  slop  with  skim  milk.  This  would  make  a  medium-priced 
feed  of  excellent  quality.  For  both  swine  and  dairy  cows,  but  espe- 
cially for  the  former,  sweet  potatoes  and  their  tops,  and  cassava  roots 


20  BULLETIN  46,   HAWAII  EXPERIMENT  STATION. 

either  raw  or  cooked,  would  aid  still  further  in  reducing  the  cost  and 
making  the  ration  more  efficient.  In  feeding  ration  No.  5  to  swine  and 
milk  cows,  it  is  advised  that  the  mixture  be  passed  through  an  eighth- 
inch  mesh  sieve  to  remove  inert  pieces  of  corncob  and  pigeon- pea 
stems ;  these  add  nothing  to  the  feeding  value  and  merely  tax  unduly 
the  digestive  organs  of  the  animals.  While  work  mules  and  cattle 
can  better  utilize  this  coarse  material,  it  would  be  better  to  remove 
it  from  the  ration  for  reasons  previously  stated. 

For  feeding  poultry,  no  more  effective  Hawaiian-grown  poultry 
grain  ration  is  known  than  cracked  pigeon  peas  and  cracked  corn  in 
about  equal  proportions,  supplemented  occasionally  with  a  little  sun- 
flower, peanut,  or  soy-bean  seed  to  supply  the  necessary  fat.  For 
either  a  dry  or  wet  mash,  ration  No.  5  may  be  slightly  modified  by 
the  addition  of  rice  polish,  cassava  flour,  more  corn  meal  (without 
cob),  or  other  products  that  suggest  themselves.  These  will  make 
good  growing  and  laying  rations.  The  only  element  lacking  in  these 
feeds  is  animal  protein,  and  therefore,  as  recommended  for  swine,  the 
free  use  of  skim  milk  is  strongly  urged,  this  preferably  to  be  clab- 
bered. In  a  feeding  experiment  coverirg  the  past  two  years  with 
Hawaiian-grown  feeds  for  poultry,  the  use  of  skim  milk  proved  to 
be  the  greatest  single  factor  in  egg  production. 

The  quantity  of  pigeon  pea  to  feed  the  various  classes  of  live  stock 
should  be  left  to  the  observation  and  judgment  of  the  feeder  rather 
than  to  any  set  of  rules.  The  best  rule  known  is  to  feed  the  animals 
as  much  as  they  will  eat  in  a  reasonable  time. 

PLOWING  UNDER  OF  PIGEON  PEAS. 

On  account  of  the  rather  large  growth  it  makes,  the  pigeon-pea 
plant  may  be  difficult  to  plow  under,  and  all  plows  will  not  do  the 
work  satisfactorily.  A  large  single-disked  plow  having  a  subsoiler 
attachment  will  do  good  work  either  for  pigeon-pea  stubble  or  where 
most  of  the  crop  has  been  pastured  down.  (PL  V,  fig.  1.)  Deep- 
tilling  machines  can  also  be  used  or  the  work  can  be  done  with  any 
of  the  several  kinds  of  disk  gang  plows  having  wide  clearances. 
Where  the  plant  has  made  good  growth  it  is  essential  that  it  be  left 
standing  during  the  time  of  plowing  rather  than  be  broken  down  be- 
fore plowing,  as  some  have  suggested. 

PIGEON  PEA  AS  A  COVER  AND  GREEN-MANURING  CROP  AND  FOR 

ROTATION. 

Good  farming  means,  or  should  mean,  both  permanent  and  profit- 
able agriculture.  No  agriculture  can  be  either  permanent  or  profit- 
able where  the  outgo  of  fertility  from  the  land  is  greater  than  the 
return.    For  the  maintenance  of  soil  fertility,  no  agricultural  prac- 


Bui.  46.  Hawaii  Agr.  Expt.  Station. 


Plate  V. 


Fig.  I.— Single  Disk  Plow  with  Subsoil  Attachment.    Adapted  to  Plowing 
Under  Pigeon  Peas  for  Green  Manure. 


Fig.  2.— Field  of  Pineapples  Following  Pigeon  Peas.    Third  Crop  Plowed 
Under.    Pineapple  Yield  20  Tons  A  No.  I  Fruit  per  Acre. 


THE  PIGEON   PEA!   CULTURE   IN   HAWAII.  21 

tices  have  longer  or  better  stood  the  test  of  time  than  green  manuring 
and  the  systematic  rotation  of  crops.  In  Hawaii  no  other  crop  is 
known  that  will  lend  itself  more  readily  to  a  large  variety  of  condi- 
tions than  the  pigeon  pea.  On  account  of  its  ready  adaptability  to 
soil  and  climate,  its  drought-resistant  properties,  deep-rooting  habit, 
heavy  production  of  rich  nitrogenous  vegetation,  perennial  nature, 
and  thrift  under  neglect,  the  pigeon  pea  is  peculiarly  well  suited  to 
follow  the  pineapple  and  sugar-cane  crops  after  these  have  spent 
themselves.  Resting  the  land  is  said  to  restore  fertility,  but  a  more 
effective  means  of  restoring  fertility  is  to  change  the  use  of  the  land 
by  practice  of  rotation  of  crops.  The  cropping  cycle  of  sugar  cane, 
pineapples,  and  pigeon  peas  in  terms  of  time  is  quite  similar.  On 
an  average,  the  two  great  staple  crops  of  Hawaii  have  a  cropping 
cycle  consisting  of  a  plant  crop  and  two  ratoon  crops,  covering 
approximately  five  years.  This  is  likewise  true  of  pigeon  peas. 
Not  only  is  it  good  theory  but  actual  experimental  practice  has 
demonstrated  that  worn-out  pineapple  lands  may  be  restored  to 
their  original,  or  to  improved,  fertility  by  allowing  a  crop  of 
pigeon  peas  to  occupy  the  land  for  a  period  equal  to  the  time  such 
lands  were  cropped  to  pineapples,  the  pigeon  peas  then  being  turned 
under  as  green  manure.  This  was  demonstrated  in  a  pineapple  field 
two  years  old  which  yielded  20  tons  of  A  No.  1  fruit  during  the 
1919  season.  (.PL  V,  fig.  2.)  Pigeon  peas  were  grown  on  this  field 
for  three  years  and  the  entire  crop  was  then  turned  under.  The 
tonnage  of  vegetable  matter,  including  the  roots,  woody  trunks,  and 
foliage,  was  approximately  50  tons  per  acre.  In  addition  to  this 
final  green-manuring  crop,  much  leafy  matter  was  shed  on  the 
ground  beneath  the  plants,  so  that  in  places  a  leaf  mold  an  inch  or 
two  thick  had  accumulated.  This  leaf  mold  was  difficult  to  estimate, 
but  in  three  years  it  must  have  yielded  fully  5  tons  per  acre  of  the 
richest  kind  of  organic  matter.  Just  before  the  pigeon  peas  were 
planted,  the  pineapple  crop  on  the  same  land  collapsed  at  the  end 
of  the  first  harvest.  While  the  present  crop  (second,  or  first  ratoon, 
crop)  of  pineapples  succeeding  the  pigeon  peas  is  only  just  now 
maturing,  there  is  every  indication  that  the  crop  will  carry  safely 
into  the  second  ratoon  crop.  If  this  proves  to  be  the  case,  then  there 
has  been  evolved  an  extremely  simple  cropping  system,  the  rotation 
of  pineapples  with  pigeon  peas,  an  8  to  10-year  rotation,  allowing 
4  or  5  years  to  each  crop.  In  this  rotation  each  of  the  "  crops  " 
is  a  dominating  factor  for  a  permanent  and  profitable  agriculture 
and  therefore  good  farming.  It  is  believed  that  what  is  apparently 
proving  so  beneficial  to  the  pineapple  crop  will  prove  equally  bene- 
ficial to  the  sugar-cane  crop.  Sugar  planters  will  doubtless  welcome 
a  dependable  cover  crop  that  is  not  only  suitable  for  green  manur- 


22  BULLETIN  46,   HAWAII  EXPERIMENT   STATION. 

ing,  but  one  that  also  requires  no  irrigation  and  very  little  tillage. 
Such  a  crop  would  mean  only  little  extra  time  and  expense  over  the 
time-honored  custom  of  leaving  the  fields  fallow. 

No  doubt  it  would  be  practicable  for  many  of  the  sugar  and  pine- 
apple plantation  owners  to  seed  their  otherwise  fallow  lands  to 
pigeon  peas.  This  practice  would  not  only  result  in  preparing  the 
soil  for  the  subsequent  crop  of  sugar  cane  or  pineapples,  but  it  would 
enable  the  plantation  owners  to  maintain  considerable  herds  of  dairy 
cows  and  other  live  stock;  these  in  time  would  do  much  to  increase 
the  local  food  products  and  the  importance  of  this  can  not  be  over- 
estimated in  a  scheme  of  permanent  and  economical  agriculture. 

PESTS  AND  DISEASES. 

Thus  far  the  pigeon  pea  has  been  comparatively  free  from  pests, 
with  the  exception  that,  as  already  noted,  the  seeds  in  storage  are 
subject  to  weevil  attack,  as  are  the  cowpea  and  a  number  of  other 
leguminous  seeds. 

In  common  with  all  }Toung  seedlings,  the  pigeon-pea  crop  may  be 
considerably  injured  during  the  first  few  weeks  of  its  development, 
especially  in  certain  seasons,  by  the  attacks  of  cutworms  and  army 
worms.  However,  seasonable  planting  has  made  it  possible  to  escape 
these  pests  in  extensive  plantings  at  the  station.  Again,  as  it  develops 
from  spring  plantings,  the  young  terminal  growth  may,  when  condi- 
tions are  favorable,  be  attacked  by  plant  lice  or  aphids.  However, 
like  the  cowpea,  the  pigeon  pea  does  not  seem  to  suffer  any  perma- 
nent injury  from  such  attacks.  Occasionally  the  Japanese  beetle 
and  other  leaf -eating  pests  attack  the  foliage,  but  such  injury,  par- 
ticularly in  extensive  plantings,  is  negligible. 

As  the  plants  make  dense,  mature  growth,  especially  in  sheltered 
areas,  they  may  be  infested  with  both  the  cottony  cushion  scale 
and  the  mealy  bug.  These  pests,  however,  are  kept  fairly  well  in  con- 
trol by  parasites  and  the  common  ladybirds.  There  is  some  evidence 
that  the  myna  bird  also  feeds  upon  clusters  of  the  cottony  cushion 
scale. 

During  the  past  year  harvesters  experienced  some  annoyance 
from  the  common  wasp.  This  insect  builds  its  comb  in  densely 
growing  shrubs,  and  when  disturbed  by  harvesters  in  cutting  the 
upper  branches  of  the  infested  pigeon  pea  for  forage,  it  retaliates 
with  a  more  or  less  formidable  sting. 

In  addition  to  the  Coccida?  already  mentioned,  several  other  scale 
insects  have  been  found  to  infest  the  pigeon  pea.  The  most  serious 
of  these  {Coccus  elongatus)  has  been  under  observation  during  the 
past  year  as  it  has  been  the  cause  of  much  concern.  In  at  least  two 
extensive  plantings  on  the  island  of  Maui,  large  areas  have  become 


THE   PIGEOX    PEA:    CULTURE    IX    HAWAII.  23 

infested  with  the  pest,  As  the  scale  matures  it  gives  to  the  sur- 
rounding surface  of  the  stem  the  striking  appearance  of  a  fungus 
affection.  In  a  very  dry  season,  for  example,  such  as  that  experi- 
enced in  Hawaii  during  the  summer  of  1920,  the  plants,  which  were 
severely  infested,  succumb.  However,  when  the  first  rains  came, 
most  of  the  infested  plants  revived  and  again  produced  a  normal 
amount  of  foliage  and  pods.  During  the  dry  season  it  is  recom- 
mended that  the  infested  plant  areas  be  grubbed  up  and  the  brush 
burned.  It  is  possible,  however,  that,  by  cutting  the  plants,  burning 
the  cut  portions,  and  spraying  the  stubble  with  a  scale  oil,  beneficial 
results  can  be  secured  and  the  stand  can  be  saved. 

One  pest  of  the  pigeon  pea,  well  known  because  of  its  prevalence 
wherever  the  plant  grows,  is  the  bean-pod  borer,  the  larvae  of  the 
common  blue  butterfly  {Lyccena  hoetica).  This  pest  lays  its  eggs 
on  the  outer  parts  of  the  flower  or  leaves,  and  the  emerging  larvae 
attack  the  growing  seed  within  the  pods.  Only  when  a  few  plants 
are  grown  in  a  place  has  this  pest  been  found  troublesome.  In  none 
of  the  extensive  plantings  have  any  depredations  by  this  pest  been 
noticed. 

o 


UNIVERSITY  OF  FLORIDA 


3  1262  08929  0943 


